Michigan, Ohio State rank No. 1 and No. 3 according to analytic rankings

The latest S&P ranking have hit the shelves, and four Big Ten teams are among the top 20 in the nation.

Michigan and Ohio State take the No. 1 and No. 3 spots, respectively, while Wisconsin comes in at No. 13 and Penn State makes the list at No. 20 overall.

The rankings survey each team’s play-by-play data from their respective games, taking into account efficiency, yards per play and how team’s finish drives, and with a quick look at the numbers, Michigan is far and away from everyone else.

Michigan regains the top spot over Alabama in large part because of its No. 1 overall S&P defensive number, which is an astounding 0.0. Clemson has the next closest S&P defensive ranking at No. 2 overall, and their S&P defensive number is 11.2.

Michigan’s also has the top spot in the S&P percentile and S&P margin categories rating at 99.8 and 34.4, respectively.

Ohio State is third overall on the rankings list with a S&P percentile of 98.6 and a S&P margin of 28.8. The Buckeyes have better offensive and special teams S&P ratings at 40.4 and 1.7, respectively.

Wisconsin jumps 12 spots into the top 20 of the rankings, as the Badgers own a S&P percentile of 90.9. Penn State dropped two spots in this week’s rankings, however the Nittany Lions were on a bye week.

The top four is so nip and tuck that the top four’s S&P percentile is all within 1.6 percent of each other, as Alabama and Clemson finish second and fourth with percentiles of 99.0 and 97.9, respectively.

UPDATE: The first draft of this post included incorrect rankings. They have since been updated and corrected.